COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Fireflies scored four runs with two outs in the sixth after a strikeout wild pitch to upend Kannapolis 6-3 for the club’s fourth consecutive win Friday night at Segra Park.
The bases were loaded with Josh Hammond at the dish and Anthony Patterson (L, 2-3) struck out Hammond who reached on a wild pitch. On the play, Roni Cabrera scored from third and Ivan Sosa trucked around from second to give Columbia a 3-1 advantage. Next, Sean Gamble doubled to score Henry Ramos and Hammond to make it 5-1 before the end of the frame.
The next inning, Connor Rasmussen scored on a Sosa single to give the Fireflies their final run of the game. Sosa closed out the night 3-4 with three singles, two RBI and a run scored.
Columbia got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. Connor Rasmussen walked with one out to start the frame, then advanced to third on a Roni Cabrera base knock. After that, Ivan Sosa looped a single to left to score Rasmussen to break the scoreless tie.
Outside of that, Fabian Ysalla was able to work around any trouble that arose in his first Carolina League start of 2026. Ysalla allowed one run in 3.1 innings while allowing six hits and a walk before he passed the ball to Anthony Patterson and the Cannon Ballers bullpen.
Kannapolis got on the board in the top of the fifth inning. After Steven Lancia hit a lead-off single, Javier Mogollon and Stiven Flores hit back-to-back two out singles to plate Lancia and tie the game 1-1.
That shuttled Darwin Rodriguez out of the game in a tie contest. Rodriguez closed out the night with five runs of one-run baseball with five punchouts. After that, Andy Basora (W, 4-3) worked two innings of one-run ball and Henson Leal closed out the game with the same line.
The Fireflies continue their series with the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers tomorrow night at Segra Park at 6:05 pm. RHP Shane Van Dam (2-6, 5.16 ERA) takes the ball for Columbia and Kannapolis counters with RHP Nick Pinto (debut).
Tomorrow night is Dinosaur Night at Segra Park. Join the Fireflies for a roaring good time featuring Ed’s Dinosaurs. Animatronic dinosaurs will roam the concourse and interact with fans during the game and post-game the team will host a fireworks show. Tickets are available at FirefliesTickets.com.